Simmer & Serve: Easy Lentil Chili for a Cozy Dinner

When it comes to weeknight dinners, nothing beats a hearty bowl of Easy Lentil Chili!

This Simmer & Serve one-pot wonder is perfect for those busy evenings when you crave something nutritious without the fuss. In just 15-20 minutes, on the stovetop, you can transform dried lentils and canned beans into a warm, comforting chili that’s bursting with flavor. For an even quicker option, use canned lentils for a lightning-fast meal!

Packed with plant-based protein and vibrant spices—because you know someone’s going to ask about your protein again, like, any minute now—this chili is both satisfying and incredibly easy to make. Whether you’re curling up on the couch or hosting a casual get-together, this dish will keep you warm and cozy as fall turns to winter. Let’s dive into this delicious recipe that makes healthy eating a breeze!

Recipe Overview

no dairy, no eggs, no wheat, no nuts, no tree nuts, no shellfish, no seafood, no soy, no salt added, no oil added, no sugar added, and no coconut.

The Menu

Why This Recipe for Easy Lentil Chili?

Chili is a perfect fall and winter meal that warms me right up from the inside out—especially when I top it with fresh jalapeno and pepper flakes!

Most chili recipes often take too long to prepare and contain ingredients like meat, oil/fat, salt, refined sugar, and even processed meats such as bacon and sausage. These processed meats are classified as Group 1A carcinogens by organizations like the World Health Organization, placing them in the same category as substances like asbestos, arsenic, mustard gas, and formaldehyde. In contrast, regular red meat is only classified as a Group 2A, a probable human carcinogen, which falls into the same category as lead compounds, glyphosate, tetrachloroethylene, and refined petroleum.

I wanted to make a chili that is actually healthy, healing, and quick! Using unsplit (green, brown, or black) lentils creates a nice, hearty, meat-like base for the chili, and they only take 15-20 minutes to cook from dried—no soaking or long cook times required. I used traditional herbs, spices, tomatoes, and vinegars to add all the right flavors and feelings to make this amazing chili stand out in the crowd.

I’ve done a lot of research on chili over the years—wow, that sounds boring to say out loud!—taking inspiration from cooks and chefs like the Chili Queens of San Antonio, Kenji, Robb Walsh, Pepin, and even CASI (Chili Appreciation Society International) all to make a tasty, healthy, and healing WFPB SOS-Free chili in record time with simple common affordable ingredients.

Have ideas for recipes or feedback? Let me know in the comments or connect with me on substack or Instagram!

If you’re looking for a more festive holiday meal then check out the Green Bean Casserole or the Cranberry Dream Sandwich.

⭐Full Easy Lentil Chili Simmer & Serve Recipe⭐

Simmer & Serve: Easy Lentil Chili

Chef Rob

Simple warm and hearty chili made quick and almost effortlessly in 15 to 20 minutes.

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Cook Time 15 minutes mins

Total Time 15 minutes mins

Course Comfort Food, Dinner, Leftovers, Lunch, Main Course, Side Dish, Snack, Stew

Cuisine American, Mexican

Servings 3 people

Calories 326 kcal

Equipment

• 1 Pot with a lid

Ingredients

  

• ¼ cup lentils dried
• 1 cup kidney beans canned
• 1 cup black beans canned
• 1 cup diced tomatoes
• ½ cup diced onions or 4 tbsp dehydrated onion
• 1.5 tbsp chili powder
• 1.5 tbsp garlic powder granulated, rehydrated
• ½ tsp ground cumin
• ½ tsp cocoa powder
• ½ tsp oregano ground
• ⅛ tsp coriander seeds ground
• ⅛ tsp mustard seed
• ⅛ tsp celery seed
• ⅛ tsp paprika sweet
• ¹/16 tsp cayenne optional
• ¾ cup tomato paste
• 3 cups water
• 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
• 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar

GARNISH

• 1 tbsp jalapeno diced optional garnish
• 1 tsp pepper flakes for heat optional

Instructions

 

• Add everything except the vinegars to a pot. Bring to a boil on medium-high to high heat. Once it comes to a boil reduce the heat to a medium-low simmer and cook covered with a lid for 10-15 minutes or until the lentils are al dente (soft but not mushy).
  
• When the lentils are al dente and the chili has thickened then add the vinegar and cook for 1-2 minutes before serving.

  Serve topped with fresh diced green pepper or jalapeno for added vitamin C and pepper flakes for extra heat.
  

Video

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🧂If you absolutely must add salt then try to add it to taste, to the top of the food, and in small amounts and only after tasting it first. The same goes for other “less healthy” additions, but the idea should be to try to limit and eventually remove adding them, over time, when you are ready.

After a few weeks of not eating a SAD diet your tastebuds reset and you’ll notice the natural sodium in foods, check out the great article, and subscribe to, Michael Corthell on Substack.

Protips

Don’t You Need To Soak Lentils?

• No. Lentils, unlike many beans and legumes don’t need to be pre-soaked. Most unsplit lentils don’t even need to be washed and most of the dust and debris that comes from split lentils is actually just pieces of the hull that was removed. All lentils I’ve cooked take about 15-25 minutes at the most. Puy french lentils are supposed to take longer (up to 45 minutes) but I haven’t tried them yet.

Make It Easier & Faster

Mixed Canned Beans & Lentils

• Use canned lentils as well as a can of “bean medley” mixed beans. You can even find a mixed bean can that has lentils added right in with the other beans! This should take the whole recipe about 10 minutes from the start to complete—or as long as it takes to get it up to temperature.

Make It Healthier

Use Fresh If You Can

• Onions & Garlic: I used dehydrated onions and garlic because it makes the recipe that much easier and faster without much change in flavor. But the texture and the amount of nutrients will be higher with fresh onions and garlic.
• Celery: You can use fresh celery instead of celery seeds, just dice the celery and use it like the celery seeds. It’s about one stick/stalk of celery for the recipe.
• Herbs: Fresh herbs and spices are also great. Look here for help converting between fresh and dried.

Cocoa Powder – Potassium Carbonate

• Most cocoa powders have potassium carbonate, milk solids and other junk that you don’t need (or want) so check the ingredients it should have 1 ingredient cocoa powder. Surprisingly, simple Hershey’s cocoa powder contains only cocoa powder and is usually fairly cheap and available.

• You can use Dutched (will have potassium carbonate) cocoa powder if you like, but it will not be as strong for fighting disease etc. as the processing removes more of the healthy compounds.
• Avoid cocoa nibs or chocolate as it will have saturated and other less-healthy ingredients

Canned Beans & Legumes – Calcium Chloride

• Try to get beans without added salt, and ideally the ingredients should only be beans and water. Calcium Chloride is a common additve but accoring to the recent 2019 re-evaluation of common food additives they found that it “does not raise a safety concern at the reported use and use levels.”

• The best option is dried beans and lentils (dried beans need to be either pre-soaked overnight then cooked or cooked for at least 1 hour). Dried beans and lentils have no additives and they might take extra time but they will save you a lot of money in the long run.

Diced Tomatoes

• Diced tomatoes often have added salt and calcium chloride or other additives so I usually just dice my own (halved grape tomatoes are the easiest and least messy I find).

Bulk It Up

Try It As A Topping

• Chili goes great on rice, but try on quinoa, bulgar, amaranth, farro, millet, barley polentia, couscous, sweet potatos, baked potatoes, pasta, zucchini noodles, corn bread, in a lettuce wrap, or even as a pizza sauce alternative.

Add Veggies

• Add corn kernels, mushrooms, spinach, kale, squash, sweet potatoes, etc. there aren’t any hard rules against adding whatever you like to chili (see all the science-backed ingredients for more ideas), unless you’re competing.

Make It More Traditional

• Ancho or Poblano: if you have ancho chili powder, or even fresh poblano peppers, then a pinch or two of the dried powder or a tablespoon or two of the fresh will go a long way.
• Chipotle: chipotle is smoked and dried so I do NOT recommend chipotle as I mentioned before about smoked paprika since it has carcinogenic properties because smoke contains polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and in all smoke there is also benzo(a)pyrene which is Group 1A, a known human carcinogen, which has shown to cause cancer in humans. Let’s skip the smoke.
• Pinto Beans: many traditional chili recipes use pinto beans, often without other beans, and if you go back far enough most traditional recipes don’t use beans at all—beans are great though, eat beans!
• Mexican Oregano: using this in place of the standard Italian oregano will help make this more authentic.

Nutrition Facts Table – Simmer & Serve: Easy Lentil Chili

The Science – Sources

Please tell me how it turned out! Did you: try it, like it, hate it, change it, or do something else unexpected???

If I’ve made any mistakes, or something doesn’t make sense, or if you want more/less details, please let me know in the comments.

Stay healthy and nourished! Happy cooking!

Chef Robert Leigh.

Simmer & Serve: Easy Lentil Chili for a Cozy Dinner